Concordat – or just a con?

JEF SMITH is cautiously optimistic about the significance of the Social Care Reform Grant

The allocation of an additional £520 million for social care announced in December under the title Putting People First looked at the time like a substantial step forward – some compensation for the disappointment of the meagre 1% announced earlier in the autumn in the Comprehensive Spending Review. It was welcomed by bodies as diverse as the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS), the campaigning charity Help the Aged, and even the Conservative-controlled Local Government Association, whose spokespersons had been lined up by the Department of Health and were quoted in the official press release before more sceptical souls got a chance to sour the party.